2 charged in death of Kansas City Chiefs fans who overdosed on coke, fentanyl
The charges come more than a year after Ricky Johnson, David Harrington and Clayton McGeeney died on Jan. 7, 2024, outside a suburban Missouri home they had rented to watch a big NFL game.
Prosecutors charged two men Wednesday in connection with the deaths of three Kansas City Chiefs football fans found dead more than a year ago outside a Missouri home where they met for a watch party on the final day of the NFL regular season.
Jordan Willis, 39, and Ivory Carson, 42, are charged with distribution of a controlled substance and involuntary manslaughter in connection with the deaths of Ricky Johnson, 38, David Harrington, 37, and Clayton McGeeney, 36, who died on Jan. 7, 2024 at a home that Willis rented in Kansas City, according to a statement of probable cause filed by Kansas City police.
The case attracted national attention because the fans' cause of deaths were shrouded in mystery. Court records said Wednesday that the men died from toxic effects of fentanyl and cocaine.
Willis' Kansas City-based lawyer, John Picerno, stressed his client's innocence in a statement to Paste BN Wednesday night.
"Jordan maintains that he is not responsible for purchasing or supplying the drugs that led to led to the deaths of his three friends," Picerno said.
Picerno previously told Paste BN that Willis is a 38-year-old scientist who lives alone and works remotely for a New York hospital.
It was not immediately known if Carson had obtained an attorney. Both men remained jailed on $100,000 bond Thursday at a Platte County detention facility.
As of Thursday, a court date had not been set for Willis or Carson, Tanya Faherty, a spokesperson for the Platte County District Attorney's Office told Paste BN.
Faherty said Carson's last known address was in Parkville, about 10 miles northwest of downtown Kansas City.
Mens' bodies found outside after freezing temperatures
According to The Kansas City Police Department, officers discovered their bodies two days after the men met to watch a Chiefs game against the San Diego Chargers.
On the night of the game, temperatures dipped to 29 degrees, the National Weather Service reported.
Some 48 hours later, police reported, officers received a call from McGeeney’s fiancée, who said she visited the home after not hearing from him. When no one answered the door, she broke inside and found a dead body in the back of the property. When officers arrived, they also found two other men dead in the backyard.
Harrington's family has weighed in on whether drugs played factor
Despite officials confirming autopsies were conducted in January on all three men, their official cause and manner of death remained a mystery until a doctor with Forensic Medical of Kansas found that McGeeney, Harrington, and Johnson all died of toxic effects from fentanyl and cocaine, according to court records.
For months, police told Paste BN they did not suspect foul play in the trio's deaths.
"Some people seemed to believe charges would never be brought in this case, perhaps because the investigation has spanned more than a year," Platte County District Attorney Eric Zahnd said in a news release. "Understand this: The Kansas City Police Department and my office do not rest on homicide cases until we have exhausted every possible resource to bring anyone we believe responsible to justice."
For months, Lauren McDaniel, with Forensic Medical in Kansas City − where the men had their autopsies conducted − confirmed to Paste BN the results remained sealed under Missouri law.
After their deaths, some of the victims' family speculated the trio died because of a drug overdose - potentially one involving fentanyl, a synthetic opioid approved for treating pain often laced into cocaine and other illicit recreational drugs.
Theresa Harrington and her husband, John Harrington, spoke about their son in a February interview with NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo, about whether drugs including fentanyl played a factor in his death.
“David wasn’t a drug addict, or anything like that," Harrington's mother told Cuomo via a virtual video interview. "He didn't take the drugs to (die). If he took the drugs on his own, he took them to get high."
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration considers a lethal dose of fentanyl to be 2 milligrams.
Attorney previously said client had nothing to do with deaths
According to their obituaries, McGeeney, Johnson and Harrington graduated from Park Hill High School and, according to Picerno, had been friends since a young age.
Picerno said that he and his client were "surprised" that charges were filed, saying it "was contrary to what the prosecuting attorney's office told me several months ago."
Picerno previously told Paste BN his client had nothing to do with the deaths.
"He had no knowledge they remained in his backyard or that they needed medical attention," Picerno said. "Had he known, he certainly would have called for help."
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for Paste BN. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.